Karenniks next bet in China: Would you like to try Cloud Kitchen

Netease TechCrunch reported February 2 that after being ousted from Uber, the actions of co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick still attracted great attention from investors. His next big bet seems to be to help promote the concept of cloud kitchen in China.

It is reported that Karennik is working with Zhang Yanqi, the former chief operating officer of the bicycle-sharing start-up ofo. Their projects include Cloud Kitchens, Calanics Los Angeles company, which enables restaurants to specialize in kitchens for ordering customers, as more and more people like to go to restaurants. However, these kitchen facilities are not fully utilized. Karennik is trying to help promote the concept of cloud kitchen through a holding company called City Storage Systems.

The food industry blog TheSpoon claims that this trend is beginning to be successful in specific areas, such as India. There, the traditional restaurant model is too burdensome, including high rents and wages from dishwashers, chefs to waiters. Using the so-called cloud kitchen, these restaurant owners can share kitchen facilities with others and reduce many other expenses.

Some restaurants can even get cheaper kitchen equipment. For example, Zomato, a restaurant review website, aims to create a rentable kitchen for restaurants through its two-year service Zomato Infrastructure Services. The site is using data to identify recently closed restaurants that may be willing to sell kitchen equipment at a low price.

Shared kitchens are also booming in China. Karennik will compete with Panda Selected, headquartered in Beijing, and Jike Alliance, headquartered in Shanghai.

Karennik is not the first person in the United States to discover this trend, but he seems to be taking it as seriously as other entrepreneurs. In 2018, Karennik invested $150 million to acquire a controlling stake in Cloud Kitchens Holdings Inc.Urban Storage Systemthrough the fund he founded,10100 Fund. The money was used to buy shares held by most of the companys early supporters, including venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.

It has been reported that Karennik has now acquired a controlling interest in City Storage Systems. The company also said Sky Dayton, a serial entrepreneur, was one of its co-founders. Dayton has previously founded EarthLink, eCompanies and Boingo. City Storage Systems is not just interested in on-demand kitchens. The idea behind it is to buy distressed real estate, including parking lots, and re-invest it in venture capital focused on the Internet.

Although Karenniks interest in China seems like a new bet, its not entirely surprising. In 2016, Karennik had to lead Uber out of China. But this time, he may want to enter China faster and establish close relationships with local partners. In fact, before co-founding ofo, Zhang Yanqi had worked as a regional manager in Uber China for two years. (small)